Flying Circus: Playing Chess

For those following along on our playtest of Erika Chapell’s Flying Circus, I have enclosed a dossier of the three rogue pilots operating out of the Span. Hopefully it will prove useful to your further inquiries.

Geneve Schmidt appears to be the newest addition to the group, and despite rank inexperience as a combat pilot she has displayed an unusual knack for ambitious and highly creative feats of engineering. Origin currently unknown, but her dress and speech modality would suggest one of the far southern farm holdings, potentially Zuhaus or Fiore. She currently flies what appears to be a heavily modified Barbierri Asino, though what put it into her mind to attach those engines to a battered cropdusting biplane, or indeed where she got them at all, remains a mystery. Known Weaknesses: Cannabis and romantic novels.

Zelig Weiss is an exile from Greyreach, one of the insular fisher communities clinging to the southwestern cliffs. Despite presumably having vacated that community after trespassing their strange edicts, Weiss still presents as one of their priests, though the legitimacy of this is unknown. With the aid of his alarming follower who goes only by Nyx, Zelig operates a scarred but serviceable Caruso Scorpione. It might not be top of the line anymore, but the light cannon in the waist mount of these attack planes can still tear down a fighter or brain a skywhale with equal ease. Exercise caution. Known Weaknesses: Opium and Prayer.

Francesca di Flores we have a little more information on, though her early exit from the military stronghold on the other side of the mountains leaves clear records somewhat lacking. We know that she departed with several squadmates, though they took very little equipment with them, though rumours surrounding the unregistered departure of Striker, a clockwork built from the remnants of her former commanding officer have cast some suspicion over their actions. Between them, however, they still have access to a fearsome asset; a fully operational Martinelli Biscione monoplane fighter. There might have been better tuned fighters built in the last decade, but good luck finding one. Known Weaknesses: Amphetamines and compulsive exercise.

So far this little crew have limited themselves to minor strikes against pirate forces, but in the hub that is the Span the scope and strangeness of work they might find is limited only barely by their ambition. Time will tell.